An Early Cretaceous slab window beneath central Tibet, SW China: evidence from OIB ‐like alkaline gabbros in the Duolong area

Terra Nova ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Wu ◽  
Shulin Sun ◽  
Haiyong Liu ◽  
Hao Chu ◽  
Wei Ding
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Sw China ◽  
Central Tibet ◽  
Slab Window

Closure of the Bangong–Nujiang Tethyan Ocean in the central Tibet: Results from the provenance of the Duoni Formation

2019 ◽  
Vol 89 (10) ◽  
pp. 1039-1054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhicai Zhu ◽  
Qingguo Zhai ◽  
Peiyuan Hu ◽  
Sunlin Chung ◽  
Yue Tang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Suture Zone ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Tectonic History ◽  
Magmatic Rocks ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Delta Sequence ◽  
History Of ◽  
Central Tibet

ABSTRACT The closure of the Bangong–Nujiang Tethyan Ocean (BNTO) and consequent Lhasa–Qiangtang collision is vital to reasonably understanding the early tectonic history of the Tibetan Plateau before the India-Eurasia collision. The timing of the Lhasa–Qiangtang collision was mainly constrained by the ophiolite and magmatic rocks in previous studies, with only limited constraints from the sedimentary rocks within and adjacent to the Bangong–Nujiang suture zone. In the middle segment of the Bangong–Nujiang suture zone, the Duoni Formation, consisting of a fluvial delta sequence with minor andesite interlayers, was originally defined as the Late Cretaceous Jingzhushan Formation and interpreted as the products of the Lhasa–Qiangtang collision during the Late Cretaceous. Our new zircon U-Pb data from two samples of andesite interlayers demonstrate that it was deposited during the latest Early Cretaceous (ca. 113 Ma) rather than Late Cretaceous. Systemic studies on the sandstone detrital model, heavy-mineral assemblage, and clasts of conglomerate demonstrate a mixed source of both Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes and ophiolite complex. Clasts of conglomerate contain abundant angular peridotite, gabbro, basalt, chert, andesite, and granite, and minor quartzite and gneiss clasts also exist. Sandstones of the Duoni Formation are dominated by feldspathic–lithic graywacke (Qt25F14L61 and Qm13F14L73), indicative of a mixture of continental-arc and recycled-orogen source origin. Detrital minerals of chromite, clinopyroxene, epidote, and hornblende in sandstone also indicate an origin of ultramafic and mafic rocks, while garnets indicate a metamorphosed source. Paleocurrent data demonstrate bidirectional (southward and northward) source origins. Thus, we suggest that the deposition of the Duoni Formation took place in the processes of the Lhasa–Qiangtang collision during the latest Early Cretaceous (∼ 113 Ma), and the BNTO had been closed by this time.

East Asian orogenic collapse caused by oblique subduction and reduced boundary force

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Allen ◽  
Shuguang Song ◽  
Jean-Arthur Jean-Arthur Olive ◽  
Yang Chu ◽  
Chao Wang
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Middle Jurassic ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Force Balance ◽  
Sw China ◽  
Oblique Subduction ◽  
Crustal Thinning ◽  
Boundary Force ◽  
Thick Crust

<p>East Asia experienced compressional deformation in the early Mesozoic, across the South China Block, North China Craton (NCC) and the part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt to the north of the NCC. Deformation and magmatism resulted from Triassic collisions that accreted the continental blocks, and also Izanagi (Paleo-Pacific) Plate subduction from the east. We suggest that there was a single East Asian orogenic plateau by the Middle Jurassic, from NE Russia to SW China, with a length of ~4000 km. The causes and timings of the destruction of this plateau are unclear, especially loss of the lower lithosphere of the NCC. Here, we synthesize evidence for late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic crustal thinning via extension and denudation, to quantify the previous crustal thickness. We find that there was a ~50 km thick crust by the Middle Jurassic across much of the area between NE Asia and SW China, which has since undergone ~30% thinning. A force balance indicates that the buoyancy force produced by the gravitational potential energy of this thick crust drove extension from the latest Jurassic - Early Cretaceous (~145 Ma), when a rapid switch from orthogonal to oblique subduction at the Asia-Izanagi plate margin reduced the compressive boundary force by ~30%. Mantle lithosphere thinning of the NCC exceeds crustal thinning by a factor of ~2; extensional collapse cannot be the only cause of cratonic destruction, but played a major role, and potentially triggered mantle instability. Early Cretaceous extension was accompanied by a flare-up in volcanism along East Asia, which we speculate contributed to the Cretaceous hothouse climate.</p>

Early Cretaceous exhumation of the Qiangtang Terrane during collision with the Lhasa Terrane, Central Tibet

Terra Nova ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 382-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongbao Zhao ◽  
Paul D. Bons ◽  
Konstanze Stübner ◽  
Gen-Hou Wang ◽  
Todd A. Ehlers
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Lhasa Terrane ◽  
Central Tibet ◽  
Qiangtang Terrane
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